Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Steven Crawford

Stuart King believes Carrick Rangers star is 'best in the country'

If Stuart King had an ideal transfer window it would be to recruit several more Ben Tilneys!

The Carrick Rangers boss says the left wingback is the best player in his position in the Irish League.

High praise indeed for the former Larne man, but King says it is fully justified as he is "a joy to work with".

Read next: Paddy McLaughlin determined to protect Sean Moore from 'ridiculous' pressure

Tilney certainly proved his worth to Carrick in their dramatic 3-3 draw with league leaders Cliftonville on Friday night.

He was a constant threat down the left-hand side and put the ball on a plate for Kyle Cherry to reduce the deficit at the start of the second half.

King was running out of superlatives to describe the 25-year-old after the game but said that is the level the former MK Dons man is producing week in, week out for Carrick.

"Ben Tilney is the best left wingback in the country, fact," he said.

"If anyone wants to argue with me about that then they should come and watch us every week.

"He was the best player on the pitch against Ballymena and he was the best player tonight again.

"He's a joy to work with. Since I've come in he's been the best in training every night, he asks questions, I ask him questions, we're learning off each other.

"He's enjoying his football and you can see it.

"I absolutely love him and I would love to have 22 Ben Tilneys.

"The ball he put in for Kyle's goal he does that week in, week out.

"I was a left winger but he is better than I was!"

King was delighted to see his side battle back to grab a share of the spoils against the top of the table Reds.

However, he joked he would be sacked if he revealed what he said when they came in 3-1 down at the break.

"I'll be honest there were a lot of things said at half-time, but what a reaction I got," said King.

"We've just scored three goals against the league leaders.

"We had to win the game 2-0 in the second half to get anything from it, and to a man again, at home, my boys have been fantastic.

"My lads have been absolutely phenomenal this season, they give me absolutely everything and they did it again tonight.

"Our home form is phenomenal, I think we're third or fourth in the table for home form.

"For a team like Carrick to be in that position against some of the teams in this country is unreal.

"It's nothing to do with me or my staff, it's the players, they cross that line.

"We can set them up as best we can but they empty their tanks every week for me."

READ NEXT:

Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.